Women’s euro is less than men’s

Akava has initiated a campaign aimed at promoting gender pay equality. The amount of women’s euro or female euro on the payslip remains significantly lower than that of men.

“In 2014, the total earnings of women were approximately 82 per cent of men’s earnings. This figure includes any result-based bonuses paid. In 2010, the earnings of women were about 81 per cent of men’s earnings, so there has essentially been no change,” says Joonas Miettinen, Researcher at Akava.

These figures were taken from the Structure of Earnings statistics published by Statistics Finland. Miettinen digs even deeper for older statistics. In 2006, the total earnings of women were approximately 79 per cent of men’s earnings.

This gender pay gap will continue to be a burden for today's wage and salary earners long into the future. Lower pay means a lower pension as well.

The gender pay gap varies by professional groupings and employer sectors. The gap is the least among senior specialists working for the State. In this group, women earn approximately 95 per cent of what men earn.

“The State has stepped up in terms of gender pay equality. Statistically, the greatest pay gap is found among directors in the municipal sector,” states Miettinen.

According to statistics, female directors employed by the State earn more than men, but there is a certain bias in the figures. Military officers are classified as higher civil servants. They earn less than other directors, and the majority of military officers are men.

The statistics of Statistics Finland contain no information about the earnings of directors or executives in the private sector. This means that the statistics are missing earnings information for about twenty thousand directors or executives. If earnings information for upper management in companies were to be included, it would likely amplify the gender gap. A study was carried out in Sweden that showed a difference of 27 per cent between the earnings of male and female directors within the private sector.

Career paths make a difference

Miettinen states that the gender pay gap is also affected by the type of careers that the different genders gravitate towards. Men typically choose professions with higher pay levels. Similarly, the pay gap is affected by the different career paths taken. Women stay for longer periods at home taking care of their families, and men are more often found in higher-paying managerial positions. Additionally, overtime compensation and result-based bonuses further increase the pay gap.

“This doesn’t explain everything, however, and there remains an unexplained difference in the earnings. When we compare the earnings of men and women employed in the same types of jobs, the women’s earnings are still lower than those of men,” explains Miettinen.

He says that Akava affiliates, such as TEK (Academic Engineers and Architects in Finland) and Finnish Business School Graduates, have surveyed the unexplained pay gap. The unexplained portion of the pay gap for Finnish Business Scholl Graduates was 11 per cent in the private sector and 4 per cent in State employment. The gap was lower among the TEK members, at about 5 per cent.

Employers have an obligation

Tarja Arkio, Senior Adviser at Akava specialising in working life issues, says that the unexplained pay gap is largely attributable to the attitudes and unawareness of employers.

“According to law, employers are obligated to pay the same wages for the same work and work of equal value, but some of the employers are apparently unaware of this fact. Employers are also responsible for conducting statutory pay surveys, which would expose differences in earnings.”

Arkio states that gender pay equality is an advantage for companies. According to research, equality in wages improves a company’s result. In Finland, for example, a study conducted by Aalto University showed that equal and justified treatment in terms of salary and wage determination improves pay satisfaction. It also increases employees' commitment to the organisation and creates a more positive atmosphere.

Arkio recognises that the process to diminish the pay gap is slow. In Finland, professions are highly gendered. In a study on the EU level, Finland has a relatively high number of fields dominated by men or women in comparison to other EU countries.

“Men do not transfer to women’s fields, but women have entered male-dominated fields," Arkio says.

After World War II, Finland had high success in exports, and men were employed in industry, transport and building. When the private and public service sector began to grow, it employed mainly women.

“This division has seen little change over the past decades," Arkio states.

Text: Anssi Koskinen

Akava's video on Female Euro

#femaleeuro #fewro #womenseuro #neuro

Let’s raise the rate of female euro

Akava has initiated a campaign to
promote gender pay equality. This campaign will primarily take place in
social media. In addition to providing information, Akava and its
affiliates offer guidance on pay issues. Akava’s website provides tools for driving the matter further within your own work community.
Additionally, the website contains statistics related to pay issues.

“We
want to make people aware of the significance of gender pay equality.
In Finland, educated men and women are not at nearly the same earnings
level. The purchasing power of women is weaker, because their euro is
worth less on the market,” Tarja Arkio explains.

There is still a
gender pay gap in Finland, despite the fact that women, on average, are
more highly educated than men. More women than men graduate from
institutes of higher learning.

Arkio states that, in recent years,
the recruitment base for company executives has begun to expand.
Nowadays, one can reach the top management levels in a company with
degrees other than a Master's in industrial engineering and management.
In other countries, the backgrounds of those in top managerial positions
are more diverse than in Finland. The promotion of gender equality is
beneficial to companies in other ways as well, as equality boosts the
reputation of companies.

In 2015, new non-discrimination
legislation became effective, which addresses many working life issues,
including the gender pay gap. One of the central instruments of the
legislation are the pay surveys based on employees’ tasks. Arkio feels
that the new legislation will begin to resolve the pay gap problem.

“We
are training shop stewards and occupational health and safety
representatives to be knowledgeable about the legislation. Companies are
also showing more interest in pay surveys then they have been earlier.”

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